TORONTO (AP) 鈥� There wasn鈥檛 much open space in Panama鈥檚 back line as it tried to keep its hopes alive.
But just four minutes after Croatia coach Zlatko Dali膰 subbed on an extra forward in the second half, Josip Stani拧i膰 validated his coach鈥檚 decision, finding some room on the right and making his move.
Stani拧i膰 lifted an exceptional curving cross onto the boot of Ante Budimir, who in the 54th minute, lifting Croatia to a 1-0 win on Tuesday night.
Croatia remains in contention for the knockout round ahead of its third and final group-stage match against Ghana on Saturday. Panama was eliminated and is still seeking its first World Cup point in two appearances.
鈥淭his was very difficult and I didn鈥檛 expect that it was going to be such a difficult match, to be honest,鈥� Dali膰 said. 鈥淲e didn鈥檛 react the best, and perhaps it could be due to the pressure because we really needed these three points.鈥�
Three minutes after Budimir scored, the Vatreni nearly added another goal when 40-year-old Luka Modri膰 鈥� making his 200th international appearance 鈥� passed ahead to Marco Pa拧ali膰 on a breakaway, but Panama goalkeeper Orlando Mosquera blocked Pa拧ali膰鈥檚 shot.
鈥淚 was quite surprised by the quality (of Panama),鈥� Dali膰 said.
Modri膰, the 2018 Ballon d鈥橭r winner as the best player in Europe, has led Croatia to World Cup finishes of runner-up (2018) and third place (2022). He got a postgame tribute from his teammates after his milestone cap.
Croatia players donned black T-shirts that bore Modri膰鈥檚 image and read 鈥�200鈥� in gold, with the zeros linked to resemble the mathematical symbol for infinity. They took a lap around the pitch together.
鈥淓verybody knows what he means to us,鈥� defender Marin Pongra膷i膰 said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 our captain, he鈥檚 our leader, and he鈥檚 the biggest legend of Croatian football, and we are witnessing him, and just him as a person, how humble he is. What a mindset, what a mentality.鈥�
Panama had three straight chances in the 67th minute to knot things up, after Cristian Martinez slid to keep the ball in play in the corner. Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livakovi膰 then made a trio of dazzling saves; on the third, he just managed to get a hand on the ball and send it over the net.
鈥淭hese are the kind of matches where you get the feeling that you鈥檙e dominating, that you might score a goal,鈥� Martinez said. 鈥淏ut then they have one chance and they score. These aren鈥檛 teams that need much to score a goal.鈥�
Group L will be decided on Saturday, with tied at four points and Croatia with three. England will face Los Canaleros in East Rutherford, New Jersey, while Ghana and Croatia will play in Philadelphia.
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Lexie Linderman is a student in the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism at Penn State.
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